Delicious Animal!

Had the Animal Style Burger for lunch at The Stockyards (http://bit.ly/pJynJT) today. Yummy goodness as always!

Some thoughts on the perfect burger

A slightly older article, but definitely has some good thoughts about different burger-cooking methods… worth the read for anyone trying to figure out their ideal home recipe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/dining/01burg.html?_r=1

East End Toronto – Where are the options?

Trying to think of a new place in either the Beaches or East York to check out tonight. Kind of a last minute thing. What would be a good place to check out tonight, readers? I’ve already considered Buger Priest and Great Burger Kitchen but want to try something new.

Let me know your ideas!

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The Stockyards – Animal Style Burger

Date: October-21-10

Restaurant Name: The Stockyards

Location: 699 St.Clair Avenue West

Phone: (416) 658-9666

Email: info@thestockyards.ca

Web: http://www.thestockyards.ca/

Price Range (Burger): $8-$12

Price Range (Total Meal): $13-$19

Service/Style: Lunch Counter

Reservations: Not Required

Short Review: A “smokehouse and lardery”, with options for ribs and chicken as well as burgers. They make a mean “animal style” burger as an ongoing special! Tasty and different

The Meal

Meat Type: Custom Ground Beef

Patty Weight: 2x 3 oz. patties

Cheese Type: American Cheddar

Bun: White, Toasted

Toppings: Pickles, Lettuce

Garnishes: Special Sauce

Sides: Fries

Drink: Ginger Ale

Service: Friendly – service counter with a tolerable wait

Presentation: Basket

 

The Ratings

Burger: 8.0

Sides: 6.0

Service: 6.5

Atmosphere: 6.8

Overall: 7.0

 

The Long Story

On a last minute lark, I decided to join a couple of friends who were going to The Stockyards for lunch. They were trying the fried chicken, but when I got there I noticed the “”Specials”" chalkboard had an “”Animal Style”" burger listed. For those who aren’t familliar with In & Out Burger, an Animal-Style burger is basically a double cheesburger with pickles, lettuce, and special sauce – think a Big Mac with no centre bun. Having never visited the legendary In & Out chain myself, I decided to give this interpretation a try.

I was not disappointed

After seating myself with my friends at the counter (which is the only option at The Stockyards – take-out is also a readily-available), it was a short wait for my burger, which arrived with my fries in a basket. Cosmetically, the burger was gorgeous. Off to a good start, and upon biting in, the verdict was final: delicious.

Beef nerds: This Animal-Style burger was two 3 oz. patties, listed as custom-made, which I assume means made in-house. The meat was perfectly-cooked, with a slight hint of cripness on the outside, leading to a light-brown juicy interior – one wouldn’t expect to see pink from such a small patty, but although well-done, t had the flavour of a medium-well cooked piece. On its own, the beef was tender and had a tiny hint of pepper. With crisp lettuce, pickles, and the special sauce on top of a melting pile of cheese, I was in heaven.

Although listed as a special when I went, I’ve gone back to the Stockyards twice since, most recently just before Christmas, and it was still on the chalkboard then, so if you’re in the area of St. Clair and Christie, most definitely make sampling this burger a resolution!

Burger Shoppe (2009) – Part 2

Date: June-23-09

Restaurant Name: Burger Shoppe

Location: 688 Queen St E

Phone: (416) 850-7026

Email: N/A

Web: http://www.burgershoppe.com/

Price Range (Burger): Under $7

Price Range (Total Meal): $8-$12

Service/Style: Counter

Reservations: Not Required

Short Review: A classic cheeseburger with all the traditional toppings. Totally delicious. At 4oz, perfect for the small appetite!

The Meal

Meat Type: Naturally-raised beef

Patty Weight: 4oz.

Cheese Type: Cheddar

Bun: Toasted, White

Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickles

Garnishes: Mayo, Ketchup, Dijon Mustard

Sides: None

Drink: Vanilla Milkshake

Service: Friendly

Presentation: Metal Basket

The Ratings

Burger: 7.5

Sides: N/A

Service: 7.0

Atmosphere: 6.5

Overall: 7.3

The Long Story

So here is an older review of Burger Shoppe’s quarter-pound “baby” burger.

Having already reviewed the ambience and service in my previous post on the Riverdale location of Burger Shoppe, I’ll get right into the burger.

Beef Nerds: The baby burger patty at Burger Shoppe is thinner than the regular one, but still fresh and juicy. I was particularly hungry that day and this was a side-snack to my main course burger, but for anyone looking for a light meal or something to satisfy a quick craving, this burger would hit the spot on its own. The beef was flavourful, tender, and medium-grind. Not too much evidence of spicing, but the beef itself had good flavour and didn’t need too much complement. The toppings were pretty much the standard burger toppings, but of course you can pick and choose as you like from the default toppings Burger Shoppe puts on their sandwiches. All in all, a tasty snack or light meal on its own.

All in all, I liked my baby burger snack at Burger Shoppe, and since my first experience there almost two years ago I’ve gone back and enjoyed the same thing several times. If you’re in the Queen/Broadview area and looking to grab a meal on the go (or standing at the lunch counter for some quick people-watching), you won’t go wrong at this tiny, tasty shoppe.

Burger Shoppe (2009) – Part 1

Date: June-23-09

Restaurant Name: Burger Shoppe

Location: 688 Queen St E

Phone: (416) 850-7026

Email: N/A

Web: http://www.burgershoppe.com/

Price Range (Burger): $8-$12

Price Range (Total Meal):$13-$19

Service/Style:Counter

Reservations:Not Required

Short Review: Tasty burger, good beef with juicy flavour. The “garden” style toppings and balsamic reduction added a simultaneously rich and light flavour contrast. Tasty fries, medium cut and crispy.

The Meal

Meat Type: Naturally-raised beef

Patty Weight: 6oz. (estimated)

Cheese Type: Mozzarella

Bun: Toasted, White

Toppings: Portobello Mushroom Cap, Fresh Greens

Garnishes: Balsamic ReductionSides: Fries

Drink: Boylan’s Root Beer

Service: Friendly

Presentation: Metal Basket

The Ratings

Burger: 7.5

Sides: 7.5

Service: 7.0

Atmosphere: 6.5

Overall: 7.4

The Long Story

I’d done this review a while ago, but then got distracted from this blog for about a year and a half. I’m hoping to get back into it and keep people entertained and informed about good new burgers in and around the GTA (as well as wherever else I travel), so to start I’m posting some older reviews that have been sitting on my computer since 2009 – a double-review of Burger Shoppe over on Queen Street East.

First off a little about Burger Shoppe. I tried out Burger Shoppe’s (also known as BQM – Burgershoppe Quality Meats) Riverside location, a lunch counter which was the original location. Since then, a 2nd and 3rd location have opened up near the corner of Ossington and Dundas, and on Queen West, respectively. The 2nd location is a full-size restaurant with a slightly upscale feel, including plentiful and attractive seating as well as a full bar area. The 3rd location is listed as a “diner”, and I don’t know anything else about it. I’m going to make a point of going to both of those locations for another review at some point.

Burger Shoppe on Queen E. is a cozy location with a counter along the outside window where about 6 people could probably stand and eat at the same time (not in a bad way – it’s just a small location), so I was just grabbing take-out this time around, but the location, while tiny, is cute and friendly, and the service is good. As this was near the time Burger Shoppe had first opened, things were a little chaotic with the staff and service, but I’ve since been and it seems like they’ve pretty much figured things out.

For my first time at Burger Shoppe, I decided to try a burger that at the time was called the “Riverdale”, but that I see on the online menu now as the “Ossington”. It’s a standard BQM beef burger with greens, mushrooms, and a balsamic reduction, as well as mozzarella. Sounded like a light but hearty flavour, and since I was also going to be trying out the BQM “baby” burger on this same outing (see next review), I decided, why not?

Beef Nerds: BQM uses locally-sourced, naturally-raised beef for their burgers, so as to be expected, the final product when properly cooked is flavourful and juicy and healthy-tasting. The patties are medium-grind and relatively tightly-packed so retain moisture despite the burgers being relatively well-done (as is the requirement in Ontario). Long story short, Burger Shoppe makes a juicy, fresh-tasting patty. The toppings were also a very nice complement, with the mushroom adding a hearty flavour that nicely countered the light flavour of the balsamic reduction and greens. If I have one criticism of the burger, it’s that the balsamic reduction, while flavourful, did make the green kind of mushy on the burger. If the greens had been a bit crisper, I think the taste would have gone from very good to amazing.BQM makes medium cut, crispy fries which were enjoyable and gave a light crunch.

All in all, I enjoyed Burger Shoppe very much, and having gone back several times now, can say that when you want to stray away from the typical cheeseburger with standard toppings, the “specialty-topping” menu options here offer some really tasty alternatives such as the Ossington I tried this first time. (Mental Note: do a review of the Hawaiian sometime soon too….)

Cheers!

It’s 2011??!? Time to get back into it!

Happy 2011 everyone!

Well, I guess I totally just let life and work and family and everything else get in the way for a bit, and just plain forgot about blogging. But it’s a new year, and time to get back into it! Hopefully some of you out there will be interested in my new reviews still

Here come a few old reviews, and I promise some new reviews soon and regularly from now on. Cheers!

The Windows 7 Whopper Launch

If you’re a PC geek, today’s a big day, what with the launch of Windows 7 and all the related hype around that activity. But if you’re a PC-and-burger geek living in Japan, the news is even better: today marks the start of Burger King’s limited 7-day offer: The Windows 7 Whopper:

To be honest, I’m actually happy this burger is not available anywhere that I can easily get it. Whoppers are one of my favorite occasional guilty-pleasure meals, but 7 patties? That sounds wrong on a lot of levels

Magoo’s Burgers, West Toronto – Cheeseburger with Mushrooms

Date: Friday, June 05, 2009

Restaurant Name: Magoo’s

Location: 4242 Dundas Street West

Phone: 416-234-1148

Email: N/A

Web: N/A

Price Range (Burger): Under $7

Price Range (Total Meal): $8-$12

Service/Style: Fast Food/Counter

Reservations: Not Required

Short Review: Yum. Great diner burger – good beef, great topping selection. I recommend the mushrooms!

The Meal

Meat Type: Lean Beef

Patty Weight: N/A

Cheese Type: Shredded Jack/Cheddar Mix

Bun: Bakery Style with Sesame Seeds

Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Pickles, Sprouts, Sauteed Mushrooms

Garnishes:  Mayo, Mustard, Ketchup

Sides: Fries

Drink: Orange Crush

Service: Good

Presentation: Foil-wrapped, cafeteria tray

The Ratings (out of 10)

Burger: 8.2

Sides: 7.5

Service: 7.0

Atmosphere: 7.0

Overall: 8.1

The Long Story

I’ve done a few reviews of high-end burgers now, so it’s time to try something a little more reasonably-priced and homestyle. I’d never heard of Magoo’s before, but apparently it’s a long-standing, popular destination for those in the know in West Toronto. As much as I love trying out exotic $20+ burgers, most of the time that’s not on-strategy for either my stomach or my wallet. When it comes to $7 -ish burgers in Toronto, there are a lot of options and not that many gems, so in the hopes of a new find, we set off to Magoo’s.

At Dundas and Jane, Magoo’s is a bit of a drive, but as I found out, well worth it.  Located in a small strip mall, Magoo’s is a family-style fast-food/ordering-counter establishment, with lots of seating. If you’ve been to Harvey’s, or Lick’s (a popular burger chain here in Toronto), the M.O. is similar: you order your meal at the counter cash, grab a seat, and when they call your name you go back to the counter where they’ll put on your toppings and wrap your burger as you direct them to.

In fact, it was hard not to compare this experience to Lick’s. Both have a wide variety of toppings to offer, including cucumber and sprouts – both of which I love on a good home-style burger. Magoo’s offers more than one type of cheese, so people could choose from shredded Jack or shredded Cheddar, or a mix of both – which is great for cheeseburger lovers like me. And for an extra few cents you can add fried mushrooms. I highly recommend this option, as the mushrooms on my burger were absolutely delicious.

But the main difference was in the beef. Check out this sandwich. And apologies for the crappy picture quality from my cellphone camera; like I said, this was a spontaneous visit.

Beef nerds: See that beautiful, irregularly-shaped patty? It’s not often you’ll see one of those in a lunch-counter burger-joint, because that’s the sign of a burger made on site. Magoo’s, as I found out,  apparently grinds all their own meat in-house and makes patties daily. I’ve even been told by a few friends that Magoo’s actually has its own farm, so they actually grow their own beef too. Pretty impressive if it’s true, but I have yet to verify this.

Either way, believe me when I say you can really taste the difference. This patty didn’t look too different from other typical burger-counter patties, but it was fresh, juicy, and well-cooked. The fries were okay – not the best I’ve had, but nothing to complain about either. I won’t bother going into presentation or ambience. This is a burger joint, not fine dining. The place was clean, the staff was polite, and the meal was great.

All in all, Magoo’s totally won me over, and is on my list to visit again. I’ve actually had more than one craving for the taste of that delicious mushroom burger since having eaten there a couple weeks ago. For $10 , you can get a fast, tasty meal, with sides and a drink, and with fresh toppings, great beef, and not too much grease, you’ll actually feel good after eating it. If you’re looking for a good, down-home burger place to hit after a night at the movies or on the way downtown for the weekend, take the time to check it out.

New Burger Joint!

South Street Burgers is coming to Yonge and Eglinton! I haven’t done a formal review yet, but I’ve eaten at other South Street locations and enjoyed it. Go check them out if you’re in the neighbourhood.

A little behind on reviews; I’ll have another one up later this week.